ἒμ’ ὀτρύνει κραδίη καὶ θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ
In a simile in Iliad 12, when Sarpedon is about to make his attack on the Achaean wall, we see a lion on ambush (Iliad 12.299–308). The lion is hungry, but it is nevertheless his audacious heart that bids him to attack the flocks and go to their densely packed enclosure (κέλεται δέ ἑ θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ / μήλων πειρήσοντα καὶ ἐς πυκινὸν δόμον ἐλθεῖν, Iliad 12.300–301). He is desperate enough that he will make his attack even though the flocks are guarded by dogs and men. The formula θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ thus is used to indicate the motivation to undertake a particularly risky endeavor, and it seems to be used frequently, though not exclusively, for nighttime or ambush situations. Here, the nocturnal nature of the lion’s attack is not explicit, but is implied by the animals being in their pen and by the use of the adjective pukinos for that pen (see above on 10.5–9 for more on the associations between pukinos and ambush). Other examples of ambush contexts in which we see the formula θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ include the suitors’ plan to ambush Telemakhos (Odyssey 4.658), Odysseus preparing the wine-skin before he meets Polyphemos (Odyssey 9.213), and the ambushes Odysseus describes in one of his Cretan lies (Odyssey 14.217–219). See below on 10.244 for more on the qualities of κραδίη καὶ θυμὸς ἀγήνωρ and their association with nighttime spying missions and ambush. See also below on 10.297 for more on similes involving lions at night.